Why are inverted pentagrams on LDS Mormon Temples?

Latter-day saints are often accused of Satanic worship because the Logan, Salt Lake and Nauvoo temples feature inverted pentagrams on the exterior surface. Why would Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration, place an inverted pentagram on one of the most important early temples? See this clip from Statesmen and Symbols: Prelude to the Restoration to learn more!

Latter-day saints are often accused of Satanic worship because the Logan, Salt Lake and Nauvoo temples feature inverted pentagrams on the exterior surface. There are 40 are the Salt Lake Temple alone! Each of the circular windows surrounding the Nauvoo Temple depict an inverted pentagram surrounded by three stones at each of the four cardinal directions. Why would Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration, place an inverted pentagram on one of the most important early temples?

Discovered in ancient Babylon and around the world, the pentagram is one of the oldest symbols in history. For centuries, it was a symbol of light, creation and healing.

Alphonse Louis Constant (Eliphas Levi)

The symbol was hijacked in modern times by a French Catholic deacon, Alphonse Louis Constant (also known as Eliphas Levi). Constant was involved in magic and the occult. As part of his involvement in the occult and magic, he was the first to declare that the inverted pentagram was a symbol of evil.

Alphonse Constant, changed his name to be Hebrew and became known as Eliphas Levi. This researcher of what he called the “ancient doctrines” used the pentagram in conjunction with the tetragrammaton to create a symbol blaspheming the sacred name of God. The tetragrammaton is Greek and means, “four letters”. The tetragrammaton has reference to the four letters in Hebrew which create the Lord’s name, pronounced by most Biblical scholars and Hebrew linguists as “Yahweh”.

According to Jewish practice, the name of God is treated with such reverence that verbally pronouncing the name is avoided. Writing the name unnecessarily is also avoided, even resulting in abbreviations for the name.

Tetragrammaton

The God of the occult is most commonly represented in satanic illustrations by the tetragrammaton. Occultists consider the Hebrew names of God, like Adonai and Elohim, to hold power, and none of these is more powerful to them than the tetragrammaton. Clearly, the use of the tetragrammaton and other names of God by satanists does not make the name of God evil any more than their adoption of the pentagram makes the pentagram evil.

One researcher completed a little survey in which he discovered that about 10% of horror films, especially those dealing with the occult, incorporated the inverted pentagram in their film.

Inverted pentagram (Nauvoo temple)

This counterfeit use of the inverted pentagram has led many to believe that this historic symbol of light, is actually a symbol of darkness. Lucifer delights, perhaps above anything, in perverting that which is sacred. This is true for more than sacred symbols. Satanists have their sacrament, their priesthood, they keep their journal histories. The devil perverts true marriage, true family, and true bonds of affection. Perhaps few realize that raw Satanism is little more than the blaspheming of sacred words and the blasphemous acting out of sacred rites to gain favor with Lucifer. The Satanic mockery of rituals and covenants do not in any way make true acts evil. The adversary has always desired to debase holy symbols, the pure emblems of Christ and His Gospel. He mocks sacred figures, initially revealed by God, as he mocked Christ on the Cross.

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8 COMMENTS

Very fascinating article just as your movie is on this subject. This seems to be a topic people come too more than once in debate. Thanks for writing and producing some great material for us to learn from.

I found this article troubling. I wanted the author to link Occultism to Satinism but was disappointed to see that wouldn’t happen. I was left confused by the logic: it was pointed out that both Occultists and Mormons used these symbols because they referenced the holy. It was assumed, however, that Occultists reference the holy for un-holy reasons, while Mormons reference the holy because they are God’s gift to the Earth. If Occultists and Mormons both reference holy symbols, using pretty close to the original meanings of holy symbols, what makes one correct, and one wrong? The arrogance and entitlement it takes to feel like your reference of Pagan symbols is somehow more correct than other groups who have been invoking the same symbols for thousands of years before you is incomprehensible to me and why I am not a member of any church. To the curious mind I say: Do your own research and be ready to empty your cup before you can re-fill it again.

There’s really no explaining this one away. Why is it necessary to have such a symbol in the first place? In our era, it’s always associated with evil—and it is hard to understand why any church would want to rationalize proudly displaying such a mark.

It was a Freemason symbols. Joseph Smith and the founders were Freemason.
But that’s not where the true origin began. The earliest origins where discovered in 3,500 BCE at Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesapatonia.
It was found here on fragments of broken pottery with some of the earliest findings of written language. In later periods of Mesopotamian art, the pentagram was used in royal inscriptions as a symbol of imperial power extending out to “the four corners of the world”. The pentagram was also used by the Hebrews as a symbol of Truth and for the five books of the Pentateuch (The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures).

[…] Inverted pentagram (Nauvoo temple) This counterfeit use of the inverted pentagram has led many to believe that this historic symbol of light, is actually a symbol of darkness. Lucifer delights, perhaps above anything, in perverting that which is sacred. This is true for more than sacred symbols. Satanists have their sacrament, their priesthood, they keep their journal histories. The devil perverts true marriage, true family, and true bonds of affection. Perhaps few realize that raw Satanism is little more than the blaspheming of sacred words and the blasphemous acting out of sacred rites to gain favor with Lucifer. The Satanic mockery of rituals and covenants do not in any way make true acts evil. The adversary has always desired to debase holy symbols, the pure emblems of Christ and His Gospel. He mocks sacred figures, initially revealed by God, as he mocked Christ on the Cross.” Joseph Smith Foundation. […]

[…] Inverted pentagram (Nauvoo temple) This counterfeit use of the inverted pentagram has led many to believe that this historic symbol of light, is actually a symbol of darkness. Lucifer delights, perhaps above anything, in perverting that which is sacred. This is true for more than sacred symbols. Satanists have their sacrament, their priesthood, they keep their journal histories. The devil perverts true marriage, true family, and true bonds of affection. Perhaps few realize that raw Satanism is little more than the blaspheming of sacred words and the blasphemous acting out of sacred rites to gain favor with Lucifer. The Satanic mockery of rituals and covenants do not in any way make true acts evil. The adversary has always desired to debase holy symbols, the pure emblems of Christ and His Gospel. He mocks sacred figures, initially revealed by God, as he mocked Christ on the Cross.” Joseph Smith Foundation. […]